Husqvarna 401 Launched in UK; Cost Rs 80,000 More than Duke 390

Husqvarna 401 Price revelation in various countries is giving us an idea that it will be kept higher than KTM’s equivalent models but this high?

Bajaj-KTM has officially announced that they will bring the Husqvarna brand to India. The onslaught will be led by two motorcycles – Vitpilen 401 and Svartpilen 401, both based on the KTM 390 Duke platform.

After the concepts were showcased first four years ago, production versions – very closely resembling the concepts, were unveiled last year. Very recently both these motorcycles were spotted testing in Pune, India (spy pics here). And now the motorcycles have become sale ready and are going to various markets of the world…

Husqvarna 401 Launch in UK

Husqvarnas – both the Svartpilen 401 and Vitpilen 401 have been introduced in UK and they are priced at £ 5599 – yes, it is the same price for both the models. It translates to roughly 5.14 Lakh in INR. The 2017 Duke 390 costs £ 4699 (~4.31 Lakh INR) which means these street machines seek a premium of £900 (roughly 82,000 INR) over the equivalent KTM.

Further, in UK, the Kawasaki Ninja 300 costs £4899 (Rs 4.50 Lakhs) whereas the Yamaha R3 has been priced at £5299 (Rs 4.86 Lakh) – both twin-cylinder machines costing less than the Huskys!

Husqvarna 401 Launch in USA

Both the 401 Huskys will, initially be produced at KTM’s Mattighofen factory in Austria, before moving their base to India. In a report, Autoweek.com shared that Husqvarna will launch both the Vitpilen and Svartpilen in US in May this year. Here is their expected (almost confirmed) price tags.

Husqvarna 401 Price US

Husqvarna has said that price of these motorcycles will be between $6000 to $7000 and Autoweek expects it to be $6299. Now let us share some insights about this price tag…

$6299 corresponds to a price tag of 4.12 Lakh in INR.

The 2017 Duke 390 costs $5499 which means the Husqvarnas will cost $800 more than the KTMs. In rupee terms this is more than 50,000.

In percentage terms this is about 14.5% more than the cost of Duke 390. If we extrapolate a similar difference in the prices in India, we may be looking at something around Rs 2.70-2.75 Lakhs!

As compared to its sibling Vitpilen, Svartpilen gets an upright seating posture, raised handlebar and blackened look. Mounted on that steel Trellis frame is the same single cylinder 373 cc liquid cooled fuel injected motor of the 390 Duke which produces 44 PS of peak power at 9000 rpm and 37 Nm of peak torque at 7000 rpm; which is mated to a 6-speed gearbox.

The round split front headlamp is surrounded by LED DRLs and the design is minimalist. It gets a dual channel switchable ABS system sourced from Bosch, ride-by-wire and same tyre size of 110/70 (front) and 150/60 (rear). While the cafe racer Vitpilen is shod with Metzeler M5s that we have known so dearly, the Svartpilen comes equipped with off-road friendly Pirelli Scorpion Rally tyres. The 43 mm WP upside down (USD) front fork can travel 142 mm whereas the rear monoshock is 150 mm flexible.

Vitpilen and Svartpilen 401 will target the new-age urban buyer who prefers retro-looking modern machines. KTM’s head Stefan Pierer has also once said that he would want Huskys to fight against Royal Enfield (in India).